On a warm summer afternoon, Adi Behar, a junior at the Penny W. Stamps School of Art & Design, reflected on the Rampant Unicorn statue outside the Michigan League. As an intern at the University of Michigan Museum of Art, she was gathering research for a new interactive map connecting users to 110 public art pieces across campus.
The map, launched in July, was spearheaded by UMMA curator Jennifer Carty and Erika Larson, manager of the Art in Public Spaces initiative. It serves as a digital tool for engaging with U-M’s extensive public art collection. “Everybody loves to spin Tony Rosenthal’s the Cube…or to run through Maya Lin’s Wave Field on North Campus,” Carty explained, noting the digital format’s accessibility.
This initiative is part of a broader effort to create a digital database of public art, following a $5 million commitment from the President’s Office announced in January. “This database is the first step to really establishing a core place where people can go to start exploring public art on campus,” Larson noted.
Initially, the map was just a list on paper. Behar and fellow intern Yuchen Wu delved into archival materials to uncover the stories behind each artwork, completing digital records with location data. “It was really fun,” Behar commented. “It felt like a scavenger hunt.”
Carty, as U-M’s first Art in Public Spaces curator in 2023, prioritized this project, aiming to build a collection that reflects campus stories and needs. “Coming into this role I really wanted to build a public art collection that is about our place and about the stories here on campus,” Carty stated.
Larson highlighted the need for a centralized resource, as many had inquired about the public art collection’s accessibility. The map not only serves as a discovery tool but also showcases U-M’s rich public art history, with many pieces becoming ingrained landmarks over time. “Coming back to campus as an alum…you see public artworks endure,” Carty observed.
Public art’s accessibility makes it crucial, as Behar noted, contrasting with museum restrictions. “There’s always some sort of barrier guideline. With public art, you can get really close and observe it from all angles,” she explained. Public art confronts campus visitors daily, as Larson added, “Public art is available to everyone…Ann Arbor is a place where people are very open-minded and willing to be challenged by art.”
New artworks are anticipated in the coming years. “It feels like we’re perfectly poised to take on these next five years and show some really extraordinary public artworks and activations on campus,” Carty said.
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